The Francis Scott Key Lions Club recently made donations to two sight-related charities.
3/24/2018
At the District 22W Vision Breakfast, the club presented a donation to the Lions Vision Research Foundation. The Lions Vision Rehabilitation Foundation (LVRF) is a private, nonprofit foundation that secures and manages its own funds. Governed by a 23-member Board of Trustees elected from the Multiple District 22 Lions membership, plus three Wilmer faculty member, the Board oversees the LVRF’s activities and finances, and informs Lions throughout the Multiple District of advances in research and patient care at Wilmer. The primary purpose of the LVRF is to support low vision research and rehabilitation to minimize the disabilities caused by low vision and blindness. The objectives of the LVRF are being met through its partnership with the Lions Vision Research and Rehabilitation Center (LVC), at the Wilmer Eye Institute of The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland.
FSK Lions Secretary John Aulls presenting LVRF donation check to District 22W Governor Susan Bonura and District Sight Conservation Chairman Andrew DeMario Jr.
4/25/2018
At the Region III Leader Dog banquet, the club presented a donation to Leader Dogs for the Blind of Rochester, Michigan, a service animal organization founded by Lions. Leader Dogs for the Blind (LDB) is a Lions legacy, founded by three Detroit-area Lions in the 1930s after their friend’s application to obtain a service dog from Seeing Eye was denied. Formally founded in April 1939, the first class graduated in October 1939 when the cost to train one client/dog team was $600. The program currently has over 1,438 active clients worldwide and graduates about 200 each year, the youngest of which is about 16 years old; it now costs almost $40,000 to train one team. There is no age limit on the clients, just that they be physically and financially able to handle the dog. All funding is private with support from individual Lions and Lions clubs worldwide accounting for $2 million of the $12.5 million annual budget.
FSK Lions President Toni Gray presenting Leader Dogs for the Blind donation check to District 22W Governor Susan Bonura and Leader Dogs for the Blind speaker B. J. Blahnik and his Leader Dog, Goober.